WHERE THE HEART IS RATING: 7 /10 --> Good movie
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This is the third Saturday night "sneak preview" that I've seen in the past month, and the third "audience-friendly" flick of the bunch. Of course, it only makes sense to preview movies which will most likely have the Jones' recommending it to their co-workers come Monday morning water cooler time, and such tactics certainly didn't hurt either KEEPING THE FAITH or RETURN TO ME, which both received great word of mouth (also known as "free advertising" in the marketing world). So will the masses enjoy this one? Read on...
PLOT: An uneducated Southern teen, abandoned by her mom, gets dumped once again, this time by her dumbass boyfriend, at a local Wal-Mart, barefoot and pregnant. The resourceful girl manages to live inside the market for about six weeks, ends up delivering the baby at the store and must ultimately learn to survive despite the cavalcade of obstacles which continue to be thrown her way.
CRITIQUE: The white-trash feel good hit of the year! Harumph...okay seriously, although many will ultimately dismiss this film as the grand-daddy TV movie of the week, I enjoyed much of it based solely on the excellent performances put forth by five great actresses. Natalie Portman, leaving Queen Amidala in the dust, with a subdued performance, just begging people to love her even more than they do now. Ashley Judd, looking sexy without even trying, with a great supporting role as the surrogate big sister to Portman, a woman who probably needs more help than anyone in this film. Stockard Channing, Rizzo to me always, with not a whole lot of time on the screen, but certainly a lot of punch in her few moments. Joan Cusack, a woman who can't help but deliver great performances one after the other, with another cool and funny character, not as goofy as usual, but entertaining just the same. And Sally Field, a woman who spends no more than five minutes in this film, with a dead-on manifestation of the ultimate white-trash mommy dearest. And the men you may ask?
Well, it's probably better if you didn't ask, since the world in which these women live apparently doesn't provide for many decent men. That is, if you don't count the old man who boinks Ms. Channing on the kitchen table every now and again. Granted, the film certainly does play out like the ultimate soap opera, but in the end, nothing really bored me. I had a few laughs here and there, shed a couple of internal "guy-tears", yessiree-bobee, and golly gee, who the heck wouldn't want to watch these two beautiful leading ladies prance around the big screen all day long. I know I sure wouldn't mind. And is it just me, or did Natalie Portman actually start looking like Ashley Judd in a few choice scenes? But enough about that. In the end, most anyone should be appreciative as to the sentiments which carry Portman's character through the tough times, learning as she goes along and ultimately making the best out of what she's been handed. It certainly is a triumph of the spirit (am I quoting Oprah now?).
So piss on me all you want if you think I am recommending this film solely on the extreme appeal of the actresses, but there are many reasons why some movies work and others don't, and a lot of it has to do with the performances. This one nails that door down shut, whilst also providing us with a touch of humor, a touch of drama, and a touch of love. Of course, I also thought Natalie Portman looked kinda sexy while she was preggers, but that's a subject which only my psychiatrist can explain. Either way, I'm a sick man but the film is still charming. You go, girl!
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Unsure about whether or not she wants to continue her career as an actress, Natalie Portman is currently attending Harvard University full-time, studying in psychology. According to her, she will not act in any other films, besides the two Star Wars prequels, over the next four years, so that she could concentrate on her studies. She once said that when she "got older", she would like to be a doctor just like her father. Natalie was born in Jerusalem, Israel, moved to the States at the age of 3, and uses her grandmother's maiden name (Portman), to protect her privacy. She's also fluent in French, Hebrew and Japanese. Boy-oh-boy...is there anything this great girl can't do?! Wow. In case you're like me and wondered where you'd seen the "nice guy" in this movie before, the character of Forney played by James Frain, he recently played Ben Affleck's good friend in REINDEER GAMES. Natalie Portman's character is superstitious about the number 5 in this movie. In the novel on which this movie is based, written by Billie Letts, the lead character is actually superstitious of the number 7. This is the directorial debut of Matt Williams. He is best known as the co-creator of TV's "Roseanne" show and "Home Improvement". This film was originally titled HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS, which might've been a better idea considering that Paul Newman's WHERE THE MONEY IS was released just last week.
Review Date: April 21, 2000 Director: Matt Williams Writers: Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandell Producers: Matt Williams, Patricia Whitcher, David McFadzean and Susan Cartsonis Actors: Natalie Portman as Novalee Nation Ashley Judd as Lexie Coop James Frain as Forney Genre: Drama Year of Release: 2000 ------------------------------------ JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com/ ------------------------------------ (c) 2000 Berge Garabedian
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